Huawei announces Ascend Mate, Ascend D2 for Q1 release

Huawei announced today two new additions to its smartphone lineup today. Huawei’s Richard Yu, CEO of Consumer Business group, took to the stage this afternoon to show off two high-end flagship devices set to launch in China in the January/February timeframe, and March for alternative markets.

Huawei Ascend D2

The Huawei Ascend D2 is the flagship superphone in the Ascend line. The Ascend D2 features a 5″ FHD 1080p display with super hands-free screen technology, a 13 mp camera with bsi and HDR for high quality pictures, a 3,000 mAh battery, water resistance, and a sophisticated metal frame. The body is ergonomically designed to be easy to hold in one hand, and a few minutes with the D2 confirmed that it’s one of the better smartphones we’ve held in a while.

We likely won’t see the Ascend D2 come stateside until later in Q1 or beyond, though Yu did confirm that Huawei is working with U.S. carriers with the hopes of bringing the superphone to retail stores.

Huawei Ascend Mate

The Huawei Ascend Mate is Huawei’s answer to Samsung’s popular Galaxy Note II. With a 6.1″ HD screen, a large 4,050 mAh battery which is definitely needed to power that battery-hungry display, magic touch technology, which allows you to use your smartphone even when you have gloves on. Despite the Ascend Mate being extremely large, Huawei touted its one-handed UI that allows you to use the Ascend Mate even with one hand, something not exactly comfortable on the Note II.

That said, it was a bit large to use in one hand in my limited time with the device, and we have a hard time thinking you’ll be able to use this phone/tablet hybrid with less than 2 hands comfortably. And, as with any Samsung Galaxy Note II competitor, you can rest assured knowing you can text and watch a video at the same time.

Will it do well in the US?

Despite coming out with fairly good smartphones in the past few years, Huawei continues to struggle in the North American market. Several Huawei devices have been available for purchase, but sales figures have lacked that of the larger, well-known handset makers. Despite head-turning products in the Ascend D2 and Ascend Mate, we have no reason to believe this trend will reverse itself, unless Huawei puts money into the one area that most manufacturers believe they need to focus on: marketing.

Anthony is the Editor in Chief of Techgress, and a big mobile and gaming geek. He's covered mobile technology for the better part of three years, and gets excited about shiny, new things. He currently uses an iPhone, iPad Mini, and Nexus 7, but Windows Phone 8 and BlackBerry devices are never too far away.

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